ICDs are routinely implanted in heart failure patients with ejection fractions (EFs) of 35% and lower to prevent sudden cardiac death. However, the benefits in patients at the higher end of the spectrum– between 30% and 35%– have not been well demonstrated in clinical trials, since few patients in this range have been enrolled in clinical trials.

Now a new study published in JAMAsuggests that the benefits in this group are similar to the benefits in heart failure patients with more severely depressed EFs.